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Welcome to “Learning Piano for Beginners: Beginner Piano Lesson Books!”
Here at C&S Music, we are dedicated to providing quality resources for private music teachers and aspiring musicians of all ages and skill levels. This beginner piano lesson book library is kept up-to-date with what we think are the best books for learning piano for beginners on the market – whether for guided or independent learning.
Each of the subheadings describes the best use of the piano lesson books within – some are good for learning piano as an adult, others better suited for children, and some are great for independent study.
If you have any other books from your top piano books for beginners that are missing from this list, please leave a comment for their consideration!
*Parents/Students: If you were sent here by your piano teacher, use the table of contents to jump to the series they told you to purchase!*
- Welcome to "Learning Piano for Beginners: Beginner Piano Lesson Books!"
- The best piano books for teenage beginners (or adults!)
- The Best Piano Books for Children learning to play piano
- Learning Piano for Beginners: Additional Enrichment Books
- There you have it – our favorite books for learning piano for beginners.
Teachers: after you evaluate their skills and needs at their first piano lesson, send your students (or their parents) the links to the series you want them to use – they are all found on Amazon!
The best piano books for teenage beginners (or adults!)
Adult Piano Adventures All in One Lesson Book
As the title suggests, this Adult Piano Adventures all in one lesson book contains all you need when learning piano as an adult. Music theory, sight reading, chords, technique explanation and exercises are all a part of this comprehensive curriculum. Also available as an ebook.
Alfred’s All in One Adult Piano Course
This particular course is my personal choice when I am teaching piano for adults who have little to no musical background. The lessons are comprehensive in both classical and pop music theory, and start from ground 0 to help even the most beginner adult learn to play piano.
John Thompson’s Adult Piano Course
This book is excellent for adults who have had a little bit of experience in piano, or who are up for a faster-paced course. It allows for quicker progression than other adult piano books, provided the work is put in. Repertoire includes classical pieces, folk songs, and some original compositions that highlight and demonstrate the theory and techniques discussed in the lessons. The student also gets access to practice and accompaniment tracks online.
He also has a course titled “John Thompson’s Modern Course for the Piano” that teaches students to play musically – recognizing patterns and playing with feeling rather than “just the notes” – that works great in conjunction with this one!
Bastien: Piano for Adults
As with most books for adults learning piano as beginners or looking to jump back in after a long hiatus, the Bastien course, Piano for Adults, is a wonderful curriculum for both self-study and study with an instructor. It starts simple, and slowly builds on concepts to grow a working, practical base for a future in playing piano!
The Best Piano Books for Children learning to play piano
The Music for Little Mozarts Piano Course
By the same people who created Alfred’s piano books, the “Music for Little Mozarts” piano course is the best for the youngest of beginners. Foster a love of piano (and music in general) in the youngest of students – it’s generally rated for pre-reading ages, or 4-6 years old – and give them a working foundation of music theory, reading music, and how music works! The workbook (included in the link below) offers coloring pages and ear training exercises for homework.
Alfred’s Basic Piano Library
This one is a personal favorite of mine. It’s the one I was trained on, and it’s the one I’ve had most success with with my students. Alfred’s Basic Piano library teaches mostly classical music theory, and provides a truly comprehensive piano education when all of the books are used for each level.
There are also a lot of levels, so it can carry a student from elementary all the way through high school.
Michael Aaron Piano Course
The Michael Aaron Piano Course is well-known and loved amongst piano teachers of children. This particular course moves quicker than others, so it is ideal for students who grasp concepts quickly and are hungry for more advanced learning.
Another great feature of this course is the way they’ve edited it. If you’ve been in the piano-teaching space for any number of years, you’ve probably heard about the “finger number” controversy – the detriment it puts to the student when undue emphasis is placed on reading finger numbers over notes. The Michael Aaron piano course has been rewritten to put heavier emphasis on note reading.
Piano Adventures: the Basic Piano Method by Nancy Faber
Of course, when talking about learning piano for beginners, we cannot leave out the Nancy Faber classic, Piano Adventures.
Many, many pianists I know started their learning in this series, and many piano teachers still use it today. The pacing is good, the music theory is sound, and the tunes are interesting and fun! The marketing and language is geared towards older children, so it is a great choice for kiddos starting their piano journey in elementary school, or younger teenagers.
As a bonus, this bundle on amazon also includes piano stickers for the student – an awesome resource.
Learning Piano for Beginners: Additional Enrichment Books
Suzuki Piano School
This book is great for beginners who have already started playing with both hands and who have shown interest in classical pieces. Classic folk melodies and easy classical pieces are included in this anthology, and finger numbers are used to help the student with their fingering. You can find volumes one through seven on amazon, or access them with an Everand membership.
Note: most of the easiest pieces are a Right hand melody with arpeggiated chords in the left hand.
Super Easy Songbooks
The super easy songbook series is a great place to find supplemental material for beginner piano players – whether you are using them for formal lessons or self-teaching. They offer so many themed books with so many types of songs, from Christmas, to the Beatles, to Disney, and more. Melodies are simplified, note names are written in, and the accompaniment is chord charts, with diagrams of how to play the chords! These are an awesome way to get students (or yourself) excited about playing piano if the regular lessons are feeling dry.
Fake Books
In my opinion, every music teacher should have a “fake book” in their library. With a fake book, you can pretend that you know how to play jazz standards, pop songs, and classical pieces – without really knowing how.
I kid, sort of, but these books essentially give lead sheets for songs in whatever genre – a melody on the staff, and chord symbol accompaniment. It’s great for practicing improv and stretching your students a bit (especially if they’re just used to classical notation!)
There you have it – our favorite books for learning piano for beginners.
If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to comment or email us. We are here to help!
Teachers: Don’t see a book on here that should be? Shoot us an Email or leave a comment and let us know so we can add it to the list!
